For You to Smile
by link no miko
Summary: Even the happiest of children have bad days sometimes. [One-shot]


This is a b-day gift for my friend Arccy. ::snuggles her:: I wrote it in about, um…half an hour or so. Eh-heh... At work. But the idea hit me and instead of writing two papers I _had_ to get this down on paper (so to speak).

And it pleased her. Wee!

No spoilers. Could be AU, but it's just a simple pre-game ficcie full of fluffy fluffness. And chibi!characters. Because you can't get enough of them.

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"For You to Smile"

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She found him on the beach, his knees curled up under his chin, eyes staring straight out. Smiling shyly, she came up behind him, not saying anything, not touching him, just standing there. She could wait for him to notice.

Finally, he stirred slightly, tipping his head back while keeping the rest of his body still. There were dirt marks on his cheeks from where the sand, blown by the wind, had stuck to his tears. His eyes still shown brightly, but by his half-hearted smile, she could tell he was done crying for the day.

"Hey."

"Hi."

He didn't make any indication she should sit, but she did anyway, tucking her knees up to her chin the same way, her arms hugging her legs and her cheek resting against her knee as she looked at him. He lowered his head and continued to stare out at the ocean, blinking sporatically, making himself not look at her.

She smiled.

"Wanna tell me what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong."

"Liar."

"Am not."

"Are too."

He let out a big sigh, and she couldn't stop herself from giggling, and he finally turned his head to face her, eyes wide, a puzzled expression on his face.

"Why'd ya laugh?"

"Because," she said, rocking slightly, smiling at him. "You're being silly." He was so cute when he pouted. "You've been sulking all day."

"Have not."

"Have too."

"…You're no fair."

Lifting her head from her knee, she leaned back, placing her hands on the sand behind her to support herself. "'Course I am, I'm a girl. All girls are fair. Just like all boys are silly."

He couldn't stop the slight grin. "Nah, all girls just have cooties."

Clucking her tongue, she shook her head, giving him a mock hurt expression. "Do I look like I have cooties?"

He grinned, but his voice was serious. "No, you're special."

She blushed and giggled, turning her face to look out at the sea. He followed suit, and they sat together in silence, listening to the waves and the natural sounds of island life.

"Do you," he began a while later, and she watched him out of the corner of her eyes. "Do you really think I'm being silly?"

She nodded. "A little bit, yeah. Don't worry about it though, you have your own abilities and strengths."

He chuckled. "You sound like your grandpa."

Giggling at the thought, she realized it was true. "He's real smart, so I don't think that's a real bad thing."

"Nah, it's not. I was just saying."

She stuck her tongue out. "Sure you were." He laughed at that, and she smiled again. "It's true though. You've got tons of things that you do better than him."

"Like what? He always wins the races and sword fights and everything."

She tapped him on the nose, making him blink. "Well for one, you're the friendliest kid on the island. And you never give up. So you know someday you'll win."

"Maybe…"

"Aaaaand, you've got the goofiest, most happiest grin ever."

He shrugged, a hint of blush on his cheek. "It looks stupid though."

"I like it." She blushed when his head whipped around to look at her. "It makes you who you are. No one else can smile like that, and it always makes everything seem like it'll be ok." She turned to him and pinched his cheeks, pulling them out and stretching his mouth. "So c'mon, Sora, smile! Things'll work out, trust me!"

Spluttering and blushing, Sora fought to get his mouth back, but ended up laughing and falling backwards instead. "That hurt, Kairi!" She just giggled and flopped backwards to lie next to him. "But you're right. Things always work out if you try hard enough, right?"

"Right!"

Scrambling to his feet, Sora leaned to down help Kairi up, smiling brightly. He was about to say something when a shout interrupted them, and they turned to see Sora's mother waving at them from the edge of the beach.

"Sora! Kairi! It's time for dinner, hurry up!"

"Cooooming!" They both yelled together, hurrying through the sand. When they reached the older woman, she put a hand on each other their shoulders, shaking her head back and forth.

"You two. You're going to have sand where you never thought you could have it." The children giggled and she turned them around and began walking towards the small village. "You'll just have to make sure you wash after dinner, Sora. You don't want to be uncomfortable later."

The boy looked up at his mom, tilting his head to the side curiously. "Why? What's tonight?"

His mom had a secretive smile on her face, her eyes sparkling. Sora pulled her sleeve, trying to coax her into telling, and she eventually cracked, her smile lighting up her entire face.

"Well, in celebration, we decided Kairi and Riku could come over to stay the night." The two children looked at each other and absolutely squealed. "After all, what better way to make use of the fact you can stay up till 10 than to have a sleepover?"

Sora beamed and hugged his mother tightly, then looked at Kairi and grinned from ear to ear.

"Being nine years old is the bestest thing _ever_!"

Rolling her eyes, his mother hurried the children off, seeing Kairi to her own house and promising to pick her up again in a few hours. She began to walk away, Sora's hand in hers, when he stopped and ran back towards Kairi's door, waving to his mom that he'd be only a second.

The girl blinked in surprise when he hurried back, stopping her from shutting the door. "Sora?"

"I just wanted to say," he began, grinning. "I'm not gonna let anything get me down anymore. So…" his smile broadened. "I'm gonna keep smiling, all the time. Because Kairi likes my smile, and because it means that everything will be ok."

She blushed and smiled back, reaching forward to hug him. "Thank you, Sora." She let him go and took a step back, shoving his shoulder playfully. "Now hurry home and eat! I'll see you in a few hours."

"Right. See ya!"

He ran off, waving to her one last time before he took his mom's hand in his and hurried back home. Kairi waved after him until he was out of sight, then silently closed the door and hurried inside, eager to see her friends again later.


End file.
